Senator Manuel Roxas II called on the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to
verify the reports concerning some 51 Filipinos trafficked into Iraq from Kuwait
to work at the construction of the US Embassy in Baghdad. The reports came from
the testimonies of two American private contractors on 26 July before the US
oversight committee. Rory Mayberry, an American who worked as emergency medical
technician, testified he was tasked to shepherd the 51 Filipinos in Iraq.
According to him, the Filipinos thought they would work in hotels in Dubai.
Roxas urged the DFA and the DOLE to immediately check which recruitment agencies
have sent these Filipino workers to First Kuwait – the construction company
building the US Embassy in Iraq. In 2004, the Philippine government imposed a
deployment ban to Iraq after Angelo dela Cruz, a truck driver working for a
Saudi trucking company, was abducted by Iraqi militants. Cruz was released only
after the government pulled out its peacekeeping troops from Iraq.

Filipinos continue to go to Lebanon

In spite of the travel ban to Lebanon, Filipinos
continue to sneak into the country from various entry points, said Sr. Amelia
Torres of the Daughters of Charity, administrator of the Afro-Asian Migrant
Center in Lebanon. According to Torres, at least a dozen Filipinos come to
Lebanon on a daily basis. There are close to 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, 95
percent of which are female domestic workers. Torres called on the Philippine
government to enforce the travel ban to Lebanon.

Filipinos warned of fake job offers in
Nigeria

Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga R.
Umpa issued an advisory about unscrupulous persons victimizing Filipinos wishing
to work overseas with fake job offers. He warned Filipinos not to entertain any
job offer in Nigeria received via email, adding that fraudsters have lately
begun using the letterhead of the embassy and names of legitimate companies to
inform their intended victims that the offer is legitimate. The partial ban on
the deployment to Nigeria is still in effect. The Philippine government is
pursuing a voluntary repatriation program for the estimated 4,000 to 4,500
Filipino workers in the country.

OFWs warned against jobs in China

The Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) warned would-be overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against
accepting job offers in China because they would be likely to end up in jail,
deported or enslaved in prostitution. POEA chief Rosalinda Baldoz said the POEA
received information from the DFA about the arrest of Filipinos who went to
China to work as domestic workers. Some Filipinos recruited as waitresses were
forced into prostitution in Dalian City. The Chinese government has not relaxed
its immigration policy regarding unskilled labor.

Filipino nurses in UK face deportation

More than a dozen senior Filipino nurses who
have been working as carers in Cambridge, UK since 2003 are facing deportation
because the Home Office refused to renew their work permits. The Home Office
announced it would no longer issue work permits to foreigners for senior carer
positions since the senior carer is not included on the shortage list. City
assemblyman David Howard asked Liam Byrne, minister of state for the Home
Office, to save the Filipino nurses from deportation. A Home Office spokesperson
said they treat each work permit renewal on a case-by-case basis and cannot
comment on individual cases.

Number of OFWs in Canada jumps 7 times

The number of Filipino migrant workers in Canada
soared seven times from 500 in 2005 to 3,600 in 2006. Some 3,900 Filipinos went
to Canada on either two- or three-year work contracts in the first half of this
year. There are about 450,000 Filipinos living in Canada. Filipinos account for
one of the biggest immigrant groups in Canada, said Canadian Ambassador to the
Philippines Peter Sutherland.

Filipino workers in CNMI back US immigration
bill

Hundreds of Filipino workers in the US
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) staged a prayer rally on 18
July to support a pending immigration bill in the US Senate (the Northern
Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act) that would allow long-term foreign
workers in the CNMI to work and study in the US and its territories. They also
launched a signature campaign asking the US to grant green cards, not a
non-immigrant status, to long-term migrant workers. Some 1,000 signatures were
collected during the first few hours of the launching of the campaign on 25
July.

If the immigration bill passes, thousands of
Filipinos who have been legitimately working in the CNMI for at least five years
would be given the chance to apply for a five-year non-immigrant visa. The
administration of CNMI Governor Benigno R. Fitial and the Saipan Chamber of
Commerce are against the bill. However, key senators and human rights advocates
are supporting the foreign workers.

DOLE launches Maritime Office

The DOLE launched a new Maritime Office with
aims to ensure the country’s leadership in shipmanning and to enhance
coordination among government agencies and other stakeholders in order to
sustain the global opportunities for Filipino seafarers and promote their
welfare. Labor Undersecretary for Employment Luzviminda G. Padilla said as of
2006 some 247,497 overseas Filipinos are involved in the maritime industry.

High costs discourage Filipinos to apply for
jobs in Spain

Filipino jobseekers are discouraged to explore
job opportunities in Spain due to the country’s strict immigration requirements.
Victor Fernandez, president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters,
Inc., said the high cost of recruitment fees, language proficiency lessons,
among others, place a burden on Filipino workers, particularly caregivers. A
Spanish language proficiency course alone costs P18,000. Job applicants are also
charged an equivalent of a month salary for placement fee for local recruiters.
In addition to the high recruitment costs, Spain imposes a tax on migrant
workers. The POEA has accredited some 15 local agencies to recruit Filipinos
deployed to Spain. However, no recruitment guidelines have been released even
after the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Philippines and
Spain.

OFWs pay P197,000 for employment in Israel:
survey

Filipinos pay recruitment agencies an average of
US$4,303 (P197,000) in commission fees to work in Israel, according to a survey
by Kav LaOved, an Israel-based NGO that provides consultation services and legal
aid to workers. Kav LaOved, in cooperation with the Philippine-based Center for
Migrant Advocacy, conducted the survey of 100 OFWs in Israel in 2006. Filipino
workers pay US$1,928 to a recruitment agency in the Philippines and US$2,375 to
its partner agency in Israel. Almost all respondents (90.5 percent) said they
had to take out loans to pay the commissions; about a third of them paid monthly
interest rates of more than 10 percent. In addition, 60.7 percent of the
respondents said their actual working conditions were not in accordance with
conditions stipulated in the contracts.

Curbing excessive recruitment fees

The Center for Migrant Advocacy held a forum on
31 July addressing the issue of excessive placement fees by recruitment
agencies. In the forum, POEA deputy administrator Hans Cacdac said that some
recruitment agencies collect exorbitant fees because there is no law strictly
prohibiting such practice. According to POEA records, complaints regarding
excessive placement fees have increased over the years: 290 in 2004, 285 in
2005, and 1,496 in 2006.

As of December 2006, there were 1,422
recruitment agencies, of which 1,374 were in good standing. Of the total, 1,029
deploy land-based OFWs and 345 were manning companies for ocean-going vessels.

Filipino nurses disadvantaged, vulnerable
under JPEPA

Dr. Leah Paquiz, the president of the Philippine
Nurses Association (PNA), warned that Filipino nurses will become second-class
professionals in Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership
Agreement (JPEPA). The agreement drafted by Japan’s Ministry of Health and the
Japanese Nursing Association requires Filipino nurses to work as trainees or
nursing aides until they pass the national licensure exam written in Nihongo.
Filipino nurses will be allowed only three years to pass the exam; if they fail,
they will be sent home. Paquiz said Japanese nightclubs may begin recruiting
Filipino nurses (or luring Filipino nurses into the sex industry) and their
insecure status under JPEPA and Japanese nurses’ hostility may result in sexual
exploitation.

NCLEX test center will open in August

According to the Trade Union Congress of the
Philippines (TUCP), a total of 9,944 Filipino nurses wishing to find employment
in the US have taken the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) abroad
from January to June, up 62 percent compared with 6,171 for the same period last
year. Filipino nurses no longer need to travel abroad to take the NCLEX once an
international test center for the exam opens in Manila next month. The TUCP said
a total of 632,108 students are enrolled in more than 400 nursing schools.

Pre-employment seminars helpful to
prospective OFWs

Loida Bernabe of Kanlungan said the POEA’s
pre-employment orientation seminar (PEOS) is a big improvement over the
pre-departure orientation seminar (PDOS). She said the practical tips provided
by PEOS, such as telephone numbers and addresses of consulates or people whom
OFWs can call or run to in times of need and emergency, are helpful. PEOS is
useful because workers can get information while they are still looking for
jobs, thus enabling them to make the right decision.

The DFA is checking a report that a Filipino
engineer working on a road construction project in Paktia province, Afghanistan,
was among the nine killed in bombing attacks by suspected Taliban rebels on 18
July. The Philippine Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, was instructed to verify
the report. The government ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to
Afghanistan is still in effect.

In the US, Arnulfo Diroy, a 52-year-old Filipino
chief mechanic, was found beaten to death inside Tuloy-Kayo Auto Garage in
Belleville, New Jersey on 19 July. Police currently have no suspects and
investigators are not sure how long he had been dead. Diroy migrated to the US
in 2005 and lived with his sister.

The death of overseas Filipinos has raised some
questions and concerns. Elsa Silvano, the sister of Anelyn Sayson who died in
Lebanon, had asked Philippine authorities to investigate her death. Lebanese
authorities said Sayson committed suicide on 30 June by jumping off the building
owned by her employer. Silvano said the body of Sayson bore bruises and
contusions and her hands bore rope marks. The family also wants to know who sent
Sayson to Lebanon amid a government ban on deployment to that country

In another case, the wife of Reynaldo Cortez, an
overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) beheaded by the Saudi government on 13 June,
complained that she had not received any assistance promised by the government.
According to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), a welfare
officer has been assigned to facilitate Mrs. Cortez’s claim. OWWA, however,
cannot extend financial assistance other than the Tuloy-aral program. Reynaldo’s
employment was through direct hiring process and he was not a member of any
government insurance and benefits system.

The family of Evelyn Torres, 26, who died of an
illness in Timor Leste, is seeking help in bringing her home with them. She died
on 12 July several days after she slipped into a coma due to a brain tumor.
Torres brought her entire family to Timor Leste in the hope of providing them a
better future.

The Philippine Consulate in Ontario, Canada
reportedly refused to assist the repatriation of the body of Elenita Pailanan,
25, who was a member of OWWA. Pailanan died at York Central Hospital in Ontario
on 5 July after undergoing an emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder.
Pailanan arrived in Canada on 17 April on a working visa as a live-in caregiver.
At the time of her death, Pailanan was applying for a new working visa under a
new employer. Beginning 19 September 2003, OFWs can avail of OWWA benefits only
when they have a current contract. Siklab-Ontario, an advocacy group for
Filipino migrants’ rights, and Migrante International are raising funds for the
repatriation of the remains of Pailanan and to help the family with their
expenses.

Missing, ill seafarers

Eight Filipinos are still missing from the South
Korean freighter MV Orchid Sun that sank off Ras al Hadd, Oman, at about 2:40 am
on 12 July. Four Filipinos rescued hours after the incident are recovering from
minor injuries in Muscat. The body of one Filipino, identified as Elbert
Binabon, 29, was recovered by the Royal Oman Navy on 15 July. The vessel was
sailing to Iran from Hsinkan, China carrying 42,000 tons of steel products.

A Filipino crewman identified as Leonardo
Mangosing was missing from a ship carrying iron ore at the Paradeep port in
Orissa near the east coast of India. The ship’s captain was quoted as saying
that Mangosing fell down from the ship while testing a pilot ladder.

In another case, Relomono Tamas fell ill with
suspected appendicitis on board a Panamanian bulk carrier cruising the sea in
South Africa. He was airlifted to a Cape Town hospital where he is in stable but
serious condition.

Filipina detained for killing husband and son
in Italy

A mentally unstable Filipino, Teresita Aguila
Lleva, is under the custody of the Italian police for allegedly murdering her
husband Wilson and 10-year-old son Brian and seriously injuring her 8-year-old
daughter on 13 July, DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos. The daughter was rushed
to the hospital and is now in the intensive care unit. According to the OWWA,
Lleva attempted twice to commit suicide. The Philippine government is requesting
medical treatment for her and seeking dismissal of the criminal charge against
her.

Filipino family permitted to stay in UK

The Home Office eventually allowed the stay of
Aldrin Quibuyen, a 36-year-old Filipino, who was ordered to leave the UK because
he submitted an out-dated form to re-register for permission to remain in the
country. He has lived in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, with his wife
and two children for the past four years, after being recruited from the
Philippines to work in Wales. He was recently employed at a nursing home in
Llanelli.

Teachers, deans, lawyers victimized by
illegal recruiter

Some 100 deans, lawyers and teachers from Leyte
were victimized by an illegal recruiter. They were promised jobs in schools and
hotels in Italy for which they paid the suspect P10,000 to P13,000 each as
processing fee. Thirty of the applicants went to the National Bureau of
Investigation on 30 July to file a complaint against Elisa Viernes, also known
as Elisa Balaguer, Nelia Cionela and Nelia Cinco. The victims were told to come
to Manila on 27 July for a medical check-up scheduled on 30 July.

Three charged with illegal recruitment

The owners of Ren-glo Enterprise Placement
Agency, Renato Tomas, Gloria Tomas and Albert Apostadero, are charged with
illegal recruitment. Sarah Velasco filed a complaint after Ren-glo failed to
send her abroad despite continued promises of immediate employment as a hotel
worker in Spain in exchange for a placement fee of P80,000.

Anglican Church launches drive against
illegal recruitment

The Anglican Church launched a drive against
illegal recruitment after one of its members died abroad under suspicious
circumstances. Esteban Digmo, 29, was recruited by the Step Up Agency based in
Singapore through its representatives in the Philippines. Digmo flew to
Singapore on a tourist visa on 23 January and was sent from there to Taiwan by
the agency which is not accredited by DOLE and the POEA. Digmo boarded a
Taiwanese fishing vessel and his family received a text message on 2 June that
Digmo had died. According to Ambassador Bienvenido Tejano’s report to the DFA,
Digmo allegedly died while on board the Chien Cheng after killing two Chinese
crewmen on 25 May. The vessel later sailed to Fiji. However, Tejano ordered the
medical doctor who conducted an autopsy, to ask Fiji authorities, not to cremate
the remains of Digmo.

US backs counter-human trafficking efforts

The US has pledged to continuously help the
Philippines combat human trafficking. US Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenny said
at the launch of the Bahay Silungan sa Daungan, a halfway house in Manila for
trafficked women and children, the US government is joining forces with local
authorities and civic groups to help victims of human trafficking in the
country. The Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. will manage the shelter with the US
Agency for International Development funding. This is the fourth facility
provided by the Philippine Ports Authority, followed by the shelters in
Batangas, Sorsogon and Davao.

Remittances rise despite deployment slowdown

Despite a 4.4 percent drop in the deployment of
Filipino workers, there has been a 21.92 percent year-on-year increase in total
remittances from P17.83 billion to P21.74 billion for the first five months. The
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the government deployed a total of 457,531
workers from January to May 2007.

In related news, the money Filipino workers in
Dubai sent to their families back home during the first five months of this year
reached P534.44 million, up 76.48 percent compared to P302.84 million for the
same period last year, according to BSP. Remittances from Filipino workers in
Abu Dhabi rose by 61 percent from P189.92 million to P305.77 for the same
period. Total remittances from the Middle East increased by 48.64 percent from
P2.4 billion to P3.57 billion.

Meanwhile, a senior DOLE official said that the
increase in total remittances between January and May this year does not
necessarily increase the spending power of the recipients because of the
strength of the peso against the US dollar.

In view of the peso’s strength, the TUCP advised
OFWs and their families to save their money in pesos. At the same time, TUCP
president Democrito Mendoza urged the government to push down remittance charges
to help OFWs cope with the strong peso.

Philippine Overseas Workers Bank proposed

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has proposed the
establishment of the Philippine Overseas Workers Bank in order to help them save
on costs of remittance transactions and manage their money more effectively.
Estrada quoted the government estimate that remittances this year are expected
to reach US$14.1 billion, up from the US$12.8 billion in 2006. Estrada said that
the bank will grant loans and other financial assistance preferably to OFWs,
their spouses and children for the development of agriculture and small- and
medium-sized commercial and industrial enterprises and to workers applying or
reapplying for overseas employment to cover the placement fees and other
expenses.

Migrant workers’ groups support open skies

An alliance of NGOs and unions of OFWs has begun
a campaign seeking a liberalized air policy at the Diosdado Macapagal
International Airport (DMIA) to benefit OFWs in Central and Northern Luzon. The
Affordable Air Access Alliance (4As), which includes four NGOs, a seamen’s union
with 50,000 members and the Hong Kong-based Asian Domestic Workers’ Union, urged
President Gloria Arroyo to sign a proposed executive order opening DMIA to
low-cost foreign airlines. According to the group, the opening of DMIA would
allow OFWs to make frequent visits and thus reduce the social costs of labor
migration.

Internet test vote for OFWs in Singapore

The Internet test vote for the estimated 15,000
overseas Filipino workers will start on 20 July and end on 8 August in
Singapore, said the Commission on Elections. Commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr.,
in charge of the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV), said that Filipino migrant
workers who had returned home or were working in other countries but whose names
were still on the Singapore OAV voters’ list could vote in the Internet test
elections. If the test vote proves successful, Internet voting might be adopted
for all overseas absentee voters throughout the world.

21% rise in visa extensions

More foreign visitors tend to stay longer. The
Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) visa extension office approved a total of 196,172
applications from January to June this year, up 21 percent or 34,188 compared to
the same period last year. Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said many of the
foreigners visited not only for pleasure but also to explore possible investment
and business opportunities. A total of 468,281 foreigners arrived from the first
semester, compared with 439,526 for the same period last year.

In related news, more foreign nationals are now
seeking employment in the country. According to data from the DOLE’s Bureau of
Employment (BLE), the past five years have seen an almost 100 percent increase
in the number of foreigners seeking employment in the country. Foreign nationals
with alien employment permit almost doubled from 6,858 in 2001 to 12,335 in
2006, said Vic Oliver, chief of BLE’s Employment Standards and Regulation
Division. Majority are from Japan, Korea and some European countries.

Korean Embassy resumes visa processing of OFW
visas

The South Korean Embassy resumed its visa
issuance to Korea-bound Filipino workers on 19 July following a meeting between
Korean consul-general Hong Sung Mog and BI chief Marcelino Libanan on 18 July.
Hong did not disclose the details of the meeting but said the BI promised to
look into the Koreans’ complaints. On 16 July, the Korean Embassy stopped
processing Filipino workers’ visas in reaction to the alleged extortion
activities of Korean businessmen by immigration officials. As a result, the
applications of Korean-bound Filipinos piled up at the POEA: 126 permits for
release were withheld; 77 visa applications were left pending. After a
discussion with DFA officials on 16 July, Hong apologized for not coursing his
action through diplomatic channels. Senators Manuel Villar Jr. and Manuel Roxas
II urged the Korean Embassy to immediately lift the suspension in the interest
of fairness. Villar also urged the BI to immediately address the Korean
Embassy’s concerns.

In related news, the BI said it will crack down
on foreign retailers violating the retail trade liberalization law. The law
requires foreigners to put up a minimum capital of US$2.5 million to engage in
retail in the country. Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, however,
clarified that the move was not intended to target Koreans following South
Korea’s suspension of visas for OFWs. Libanan asked the Korean Embassy to
identify immigration officials allegedly involved in harassing and extorting
money from Koreans instead of suspending the issuance of visas to OFWs. He has
tasked Immigration Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro to investigate the
complaints.

The BI said that more than 100,000 Koreans are
illegally staying in the Philippines. Some 11,000 Koreans are currently holding
working visas and special work permits while 29,000 have been issued with
special study permits and student visas, according to BI Intelligence and
Investigation Division. In addition, close to 85,000 Koreans have pending
applications for visas and study or work permits. In light of the large
presence of Korean nationals in the Philippines, SMART Communications Inc.
disclosed its new plan to provide text messages in Korean-characters to
Korea-based numbers.

93 foreigners barred from entering the
country

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has barred entry
of 93 “undesirable" foreigners from 24 June to 15 July for reasons such as using
fake documents, absence of entry visa, failure to present return tickets and
arrogance to immigration officers.

Irregular migrants arrested, deported

Eight undocumented Chinese migrants were
arrested on 17 July by the BI’s intelligence operatives who raided their
workplace on Iglesia St. in Marilao, Bulacan. They were working at a clandestine
aluminum plant without the required visa. They are now detained at the BI
detention center in Bicutan, Taguig City.

The BI deported 27 irregular migrants in order
to decongest its detention center in Bicutan, Taguig. Some of the deportees had
been staying in Bicutan for the last two to three years even though they were
already issued deportation orders for violating the immigration laws. The
deportees include six Chinese, three Americans, three Koreans, three Nigerians,
two Lebanese and one each from Sudan, India, UK, Sweden, Japan, Sri Lanka,
Namibia, Ghana, Singapore and Botswana.

Foreign protesters will be deported

Philippine immigration authorities warned
foreign activists who join rallies during the meetings of Southeast Asian
foreign ministers in Manila that they will be arrested and deported. The warning
came after dozens of foreign activists, mostly Belgians, along with Filipinos
marched in Manila against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the
Nation address in Congress. Gani Abunda, a spokesman of the Free Burma
Coalition, said some Burmese activists plan to stage a rally near the venue of
the ASEAN meetings at Manila Bay to call for the release of Nobel peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

DFA stocks on machine-readable passports

The DFA is coordinating with the Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas for the continued production of the machine-readable passports,
according to Foreign Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario
Jr. As soon as the DFA secures enough stock of booklets, the new passports will
be issued to the general public, Lucenario said. The passports are initially
being issued to government officials, senior citizens and migrant workers.

In related news, the new machine-readable
passport may be issued to Filipinos in Hong Kong soon under a pilot-testing
scheme.

New rules on visa applications for Japan

Beginning 30 July, the Consulate-General of
Japan at Manila and the consular offices in Cebu and Davao will no longer accept
visa applications directly from applicants. All visa applications except for
diplomatic or official purposes should be made at the Consulate-General of Japan
at Manila through the agencies accredited by the Consulate-General. Under the
new procedure, applicants may be requested to appear in person for an interview
to the designated consulate or consular offices.